Historic Buildings Archives - Glencoe & District Historical Society

Mapping Our Disappearing Heritage — A Session with Evan Abma

July 15, 2026July 15, 2026Glencoe & District Historical Society

June 20, 2026 at The Archives, Glencoe: The Glencoe & District Historical Society welcomed twenty attendees for a wonderful Saturday morning session featuring guest presenter Evan Abma. The workshop was organized by Denise Corneil, Secretary of the G&DHS, who is a passionate advocate for documenting our region’s historical structures before they’re lost.

Evan, Chair of the Sarnia Heritage Committee and a leading voice in documenting Ontario’s disappearing rural heritage, shared the remarkable project he has built mapping historic farmhouses across Lambton County. Working from the observation that many homes featured in an old article on Warwick Township had since vanished, Evan’s small tracking project grew into a county-wide documentation effort. He has now catalogued 2500 historic farmhouses built in 1921 or earlier, recording their architectural styles and histories.

The Ghostliest “Ghost Town” in Middlesex

July 2, 2026July 15, 2026Glencoe & District Historical Society

By Jenny Grainger, Jenny’s London & Southwestern Ontario

Napier: One of the first public buildings constructed in Napier was St. Mary’s Anglican Church. The land for the church, on a hill north of the village, was donated by Charles Preston. The exact construction date varies with the source, but the church was completed around 1843.

The oldest remaining church in Middlesex County, St. Mary’s Chapel of Ease holds an annual Decoration Day Service in June. It’s a day I try not to miss, since it’s an opportunity to enter a primitive pioneer building that’s usually closed.